Tubing, Kayaking and Hammocks

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up early on January 12, 2009. The tour today included tubing in a cave, lunch and kayaking on the Nam Song River. We ordered our breakfast from the stalls again. I got a banana and chocolate pancake. Jennifer decided to try a mango pancake. Ivan ordered a omelette sandwich. We walked to the Agency where we booked the tour. We boarded a tuk-tuk. We drove for awhile. Our first stop was a temple in a cave. Our guide told us a story about mermaids. We didn’t really get most of the story.

The temple had a reclining Buddha and a few sitting Buddhas.

We walked through the countryside. We stopped to go to the cave. There was another group there already. The guide said if we had torches we could go – otherwise we’d have to wait for the other people to come back. Ivan and Jennifer remembered to bring their torches.

So, we headed out with four other people. I actually got my own monkey-sized tube! The water was very cold. Ivan and Jennifer grabbed a rope that went through the cave. I held onto Jennifer’s hand since I couldn’t reach the rope. The rope guided us further into the dark cave. Our guide took us to a area filled with rocks. We walked around the cave sometimes in the water.

At one point, everybody turned off their lights. It was pitch black. We walked back to the tubes and hopped on. We held on to the rope and made our way out of the cave. It didn’t take that long – probably about 30 minutes.

Lunch was being cooked. We chilled by the water and talked. It was a nice warm day. The group walked to an area for lunch. Lunch included vegetable and chicken kebabs with rice and a baguette. Jennifer special ordered me a banana and vegetable kebab. Ivan and Jennifer had three kebabs each. The lunch tasted delicious.

It was time to go kayaking. Our guide told us that we’d stop at two or three bars depending on time. We started kayaking down the Nam Song River. I sat on Jennifer’s lap while she kayaked. Jennifer said kayaking is okay but it hurts her arms. We ended up stopping at two bars. The last bar turned out to be the Slide Bar. Ivan ordered a BeerLao for him and a Spy wine cooler for Jennifer.

I had a banana juice. We relaxed until it was time to leave.

We kayaked the rest of the river. It was better in a kayak since there wasn’t much of a current. It took us almost an hour kayaking to end. There was a tuk-tuk waiting. We decided to walk back since we saw our bungalow while we were kayaking.

For dinner, we went to the Vieng Champa restaurant. Ivan ordered a pumpkin soup and a french bread pizza. Jennifer got spaghetti with chicken. I had a banana & nuts sandwich. Ivan thought the pizza at The Simpsons bar tasted better. The food turned out alright.

We slept in on the morning of January 13, 2009. We walked to the Organic Farm Cafe for lunch. I ordered the banana noodle dish and a banana shake. Ivan and Jennifer started off with fresh tofu spring rolls.

They both ordered a Pad Lao with chicken and a mango shake. The food was simply delicious.

We walked toward the bungalows.

We crossed the wooden bridge to get to our bungalow. We walked behind the bungalow area to the Bucket Bar. We each got our own hammock to lie down in. I took a nice monkey nap. Ivan and Jennifer read a book on the hammocks.

We chilled here for a few hours. The sun came down showing a lovely sunset.

We returned to the Vieng Champa restaurant for dinner. Tonight we saw Family Guy episodes that we’ve never seen before. Ivan ordered a tomato soup. I brought two banana pancakes from a stall. Ivan and Jennifer both had a great tuna sandwich. The food was good once again.